Automated creation and delivery of database content

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus are disclosed which automatically build a database by automatically identifying a term of interest and building a term database with supplemental content from an assigned source for that term. A term can be selected by applying various rules. An advertiser can sponsor the term, for example, by having an advertisement window automatically pop-up on a keyword search. Content windows can be attached to the term, the content window containing information such as definitions, related products or services, sponsorship information, information from content syndicators, translations and reference works. Data objects that represent the contents of the database and templates are syndicated to remote servers running a processing engine. The processing engine uses these data objects to execute linking rules without requiring a connection to the database.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a Continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/218,738, filed on Aug. 15, 2002, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/313,041, filed Aug. 16, 2001,which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to database building and delivery ofdatabase content. More particularly, the invention relates to anapparatus and to a family of methods that automatically builds a centraldatabase by automatically assigning links to an expert for notation andthen syndicates content from that database to remote applicationinstallations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Today a plethora of systems are available to assist electronicpublishers in automating the indexing, searching and organization oftheir documents. Vendors such as Sopheon have applications that alloworganizations to capture knowledge through structured authoring tools,terminology management, and thesauri. Software developer, Trados,identifies linguistic content and extracts sections for translation,references against the translation memory and glossaries to providerelevant information to translators, routes jobs to the appropriatetranslation teams and content reviewers, assigns users, deadlines,review steps, and special instructions, and provides project managementand vendor management tools. Companies such as Xerox, STAR Group,DicoMaker, SDL International, Multi-Corpora, Multisystems, and ATRILprovide terminology and translation memory creation and managementtools. And companies such as Semio, Sageware, Quiver, Applied Semantics,Inxight, and Interwoven provide document categorizers that analyze,categorize, and classify documents into human discernable groupings thataccelerate the search process.

The patent literature shows that several inventors have worked on theprocess of database creation over the past decade. VanderDrift in U.S.Pat. No. 5,455,945 (1995) refers to a “system and method for dynamicallydisplaying entering, and updating data from a database”. And Wayne et alin EP0840240 refer to “a system for performing intelligent analysis andsegmentation of a computer database”. And others have worked on aprocess for aggregating user data across large data sets such asBarrett, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,129 (1998) who refer to a“network system for profiling and actively facilitating useractivities”.

The problem with all current techniques and systems for analyzing andorganizing documents is that none can claim the ability to automaticallycreate consistent, high quality links and associations between conceptsand pieces of knowledge in a cost effective manner. The invention isbased on the premise during the process of aggregating terminology andassociating knowledge that human beings will necessarily be involved.Humans may also tend to introduce errors into the process but at a muchlower rate than software based automated categorizers or documentprocessors.

The invention is hence an attempt to create a scalable system formanaging the process of creating richly linked associations betweenterms and related content. It also specifies a commercial infrastructurethat will enable the costs of production to be managed and forincentives to be generated that will enable experts to invest time andenergy in the production of large-scale link databases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus is disclosed which builds a database byautomatically assigning terms to an expert, providing an interface andmethods for the expert to enter supplemental information for that term,including definitions, explanations, specifications, links, relatedproducts or services, sponsorship information, information from contentsyndicators, translations, and reference works and then merging theexpert-created content to a central database. Information from thedatabase needed to create links and the rules for linking to databasecontent are syndicated to remote servers. Tags or other identifiers areinserted within unstructured text which utilize database information intheir construction or provide a means to access the database content.Connection to the database is not required at the time linking isperformed.

The process begins by identifying terms of interest within a corpus ofdocuments. Term identification may be accomplished by crawling andparsing the corpus to select terms through application of rules, suchas, a term was not previously in the database, an unusually frequent useof the term, the term is an article, or the term is an unusual part ofspeech. Other methods of identifying terms may also be employed,including human effort, the use of search logs, taxonomy nodes, taxonomyevidence terms, meta-tags, existing glossaries or existing filters.

Once a list of terms is assembled, individual terms are assigned toexperts to provide supplemental information on the term. A utility isprovided to the expert that manages term assignments, allows the expertto analyze the term in context by showing expandable examples of its usein the corpus of documents, and provides the interface for entry ofsupplemental information as well as meta-data to help characterize thesupplemental information.

Utilities are provided to the publisher that allow them to establish therules for choosing the supplemental information which should appear fora term, for tagging the term on the page, and for designing thepresentation window for that supplemental information.

A content publisher wishing to provide links from words and phrases in adocument to the supplemental information contained in the databaseinstalls an automated tagging engine (the RichLink Processor) withintheir network. The RichLink Processor automatically downloads, from thecentral database, the data structures necessary to perform high-speedtagging of the text and to execute the tagging rules without requiring aconnection to the database at the time of tagging, although it remainspossible to do so. The RichLink Processor performs routinesynchronization of its data structures with the database to insure thatchanges to content within the database, tagging rules, or presentationrules are reflected locally.

Several modules are included to help edit and store user preferences,track and report usage, and manage business processes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between modules thatcomprise the automated database creation and delivery system, accordingto the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the databases that comprise the systemdatabases, according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the modules that comprise the businessinterface, according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the modules that comprise the accountmanagement and eCommerce system, according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the modules that comprise theeMarketing management system, according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the modules that comprise the termdiscovery utilities system, according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the steps performed to automaticallycreate, syndicate, and link to database content, according to thepresent invention.

FIGS. 8A, 8B 8C, and 8D are diagrams illustrating the Term Finder EditorList screen, according to the present invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating the modules that comprise theRichLink Processor system and the operation of that system, according tothe present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the modules that comprise the RichLinkContextual Content Server, according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the modules that comprise the contentpresentation system, according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the modules that comprise the termdatabase, according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates the network of modules 100, that along with humanexpert analysis, performs interrelated functions that automaticallycreate and deliver database content in the environment of onlinebrowsing and/or advertising.

The custom 1220 and sponsored 1230 dictionaries are built byautomatically assigning terms to an expert, pushing content to anexpert, providing expert annotation, and inserting the content into theterm database. The modules that perform the interrelated functionsinclude, system databases that store data, business interfaces thatinterface users with the modules, account management that managesaccount information, eMarketing management that enables a user to managemarketing related items, utilities that automate the process of termdiscovery, the RichLink Processor that tags documents, the contentdelivery system for presenting embedded information and an editing suitefor modifying user options.

System Databases 105

FIG. 2 illustrates the databases in this core component 105 that housesystem data used by system processes. The databases contain templates(discussed infra), customer information, click information (discussedinfra) and the term database (discussed infra).

Templates Database 210

This module 210 is the central storage location for templates. Thesetemplates are used as the foundation for customization. Templates mayinclude combinations of databases and layers and presentation rules forthe RichLink Content Window 170. This module interacts with the RichLinkContextual Content Server 135 module when creating new templates.

Customer Information Database 220

This module 220 serves as a central storage location for customerinformation. A portfolio for each customer is created and containscustomer related information such as customer contact information,customer technical information, license information, sales trackinginformation, and prototype files. This module reports to the AccountManagement module (discussed infra), the Sales Force AutomationInterface (discussed infra), and the eMarketing module (discussedinfra).

Click Information Database 230

This module 230 stores data from the Click Info Capture module(discussed infra). Such information includes pages of activity, views ofindividual terms, views of individual layers, and click-throughs tohyperlink content items. The module reports to the Account Managementand eMarketing modules (discussed infra).

RichLink Term Database 240

This module 240 is a library that contains all terms and associatedcontent that can be sorted and queried, using business criteria toorganize into dictionaries of similar information. Content types such astext, image, sound, video, mixed media, and forms may be stored in thisdatabase. There is a one-to-many relationship developed between matchingterms and content associated with matching terms. Content may beidentified in a number of ways to allow automated identification of thedictionary to which it belongs. Examples of identification informationare the publisher name, sponsor name, site name, readership, andsponsorship dates. Content may also be associated with metadata to allowautomated identification of the category to which it belongs.

Business Interface 110

FIG. 3 illustrates the modules in this core component group 110 thatinterfaces with operational business systems to insure smooth handlingof customers from sales, services, invoicing, payment, and accounting.

Sales Force Automation (SFA) Interface 310

The SFA Interface 310 handles interaction with the customer informationdatabase and the corresponding online commercial website. Typically, acustomer initiates contact online. The customer information is pulledfrom the database and sent to the SFA module. Customer information,prototype files, and technical information are stored in the customerdatabase 220.

Accounts Payable (AP)/Accounts Receivable (AR) Interface 320

This interface 320 handles the exchange of information between thecustomer database 220 and AP and AR information. Customers are able toaccess invoicing and account balance information online. Clickinformation data used in eMarketing pricing models are sent to the AP/ARinterface and invoices issued and tracked. Online transactions such assubscriptions and license information are stored in the customerdatabase and are sent to the AP/AR interface for invoicing.

Account Management and e-Commerce 115

FIG. 4 illustrates the modules in this component group 115 that allowscustomers, partners, and services employees to manage accountinformation and to purchase additional products and services as theirneeds develop or as additional services and capabilities are offered.Customers using this module are able to update this component accordingto their needs.

Home Page 410

A user of the system has a home page portal which links them to parts ofthe system and provides access to personalized content such as news,products and service announcements and promotional items. The homepageincludes features such as focused page content, based on the user'sprofile and preferences. The homepage also contains user information,such as user rights, events, links to account management and eCommercemodules, links to eMarketing modules, links to RichLink ContextualContent server modules, links to a support and product website, forumlinks and news, success stories and product announcements.

View/Edit Account Information 420

This module enables customer modification of account information, suchas contact and technical information. From this module a user is able toview and edit contact information, view and edit technical information,view account balances and invoices, view and edit payment methods, viewlicenses, select newsletter options, and specify the contents of a userhome page.

System Rights Administration 430

This module enables companies to assign role-based privileges to a user.For example, the role of marketing manager has privileges related tomarketing, such as, editing the appearance of the RichLink ContentWindow. The role of an editor has priveleges related to content, such asediting and adding content for terms. Email can be used to notify usersof their privileges and of any privilege changes. Error-checkingroutines are present which ensure the proper privileges are assigned.

Activity Reporting 440

This module tracks activity, system capacity, and metrics for analysis,planning, and support. Activity statistics include server, fileprocessing and click information. Examples of file processing statisticsare, files processed, dictionaries used, errors and links created.Examples of click statistics are clicks per term, number of contentviews, click-throughs, survey results, page analysis, ID sessionanalysis, most viewed terms and content, and least viewed terms andcontent. Server statistics include time in certain phases, server logs,uptime and downtime.

Reporting capabilities can be tailored to a user's roles and privilegesso different reports are available to employees, customers, andsponsors. A user can customize reports by specifying the date range forthe report and modifying other query or sort criteria.

E-Commerce 450

This module sets up a generic configuration for the online sale ofproducts and services. The module provides a reseller/partner orderingsystem, options to allow a 20 user to add products and services, amarketplace for the sale of term sponsorships, a quotation tool, and alicensing system for hosted service and software customers that run theservice at their site.

A user can add, change and delete dictionaries and services. This moduleinterfaces with the accounts receivable module to keep track of records,and with the term rights purchase module, to track site sponsorships.The module also handles the payment of the sales and/or servicespurchased, and generates sales quotes.

Kiosk 460

This module processes files that occur outside of typical hosted serviceenvironments. Examples of such occurrences are, submission of documentsfrom the World Wide Web and from a desktop for processing, credit cardtransactions, one-off processing, uploading, and downloading ofdocuments.

eMarketing Management 120

FIG. 5 illustrates the modules in this core component group 120 thatenable participants to manage eMarketing efforts for both term sponsorsand portal sites that have contextual eMarketing.

Term Inventory Manager 510

This module defines term sponsorship opportunities on contextualeMarketing sites. Sites can customize their term sponsorshipopportunities by defining term sponsorship opportunities variables,defining pricing models, interfacing with the eMarketing database andinterfacing with the Click Info module.

Term sponsorship opportunities are defined by editing domain, layer,readership and term periods associated with sponsorship of a term orcluster of terms. Pricing model variables include specifying the termsin a cluster, setting a fixed price for a cluster, having an auction fora cluster, and setting the time period for which a price is active.

This module interfaces with the eMarketing Database to edit and storesponsorship opportunities, and make them available to sponsors. Themodule interfaces with the Click Information Database to trackimpressions and interfaces with the Term Database to serve appropriatecontent and rotate content.

Term Rights Purchase 520

This module enables a user to search for sponsorship opportunities andbuy rights to include contextual marketing material when a term isclicked on. A user searches for a term across sites to determine theavailability of sponsorship opportunities. If a sponsorship opportunityis available, the user has the opportunity to purchase the sponsorshipopportunity for that site.

This module can process payment for sponsorship opportunities and alsohandle invoicing. Different pricing systems are available, such as fixedpricing, auctions, discount pricing for multiple ads and pricing basedon term length, and pricing based on a guaranteed number of impressions.The eMarketing database stores sponsorship availability notificationsand any rights purchased.

Portal Reporting 530

This module generates sponsorship reports for contextual eMarketingportals.

A user can view what terms on a site are sponsored, see who the sponsorof a term is, the terms of that sponsorship, and click informationstatistics such as impressions and click-throughs.

Sponsor Reporting 540

This module generates sponsorship reports for contextual eMarketingsponsors. A user can view what terms they have sponsored for aparticular site or across all sites, the terms of that sponsorship, andclick information statistics such as impressions and click-throughs.

Term Discovery Utilities 125

FIG. 6 illustrates the modules in this core component group 125 thatautomate the process of discovering and collecting terminology. Theterms in the list can then be made available for sponsorship or havecontent associated with them through the Content Manager 1120 module.

Term Finder 610

FIG. 7 is a flowchart that illustrates the term finder module. The termfinder module performs a full text index of a corpus of documents suchas a website and generates a list of terms that may be of interest 700.The term finder is directed to a top-level folder and then recursivelycrawls through that folder and every sub-folder searching for all filesthat match a specified file type or types. Files matching the specifiedtypes are parsed 710 using natural language processing to tokenize thetext into significant objects such as words and phrases until a fullindex of all words and phrases on the site is created.

From this full index, terms of interest are chosen using a set of rules.These rules include for example, but not by way of limitation, whetheror not the term currently exists in a database, whether there is anunusually high frequency of use of the term, the type of term andwhether the term is used in an unusual manner. Examples of types of termrules are, product names and company names. An example of a term used inan unusual manner is a verb used as a proper noun. As terms are chosen,a list is created containing terms of interest as well as the rules thatled to their selection. The pages and sites on which the terms occur arenoted and categorized.

Frequency values are determined by using a normalization factor. Thenormalization factor is calculated by taking the term in its chaincontext, and dividing it by its overall appearance in all chains on thesite. For example, the chain “Pokemon video on DVD” may appear once on awebsite, that also mentions Pokemon nineteen other times on the site.The other nineteen times discuss Pokemon trading cards and Pokemon lunchboxes. Thus the normalized frequency would be one in twenty, or 0.05. Anormalized threshold such as 0.20 or higher is required by this rule toclassify the website as pertaining to a term and thus select this term.Thus, in this example this website is not classified as pertaining toPokemon videos on DVD and Pokemon videos on DVD is not selected because0.05 is not greater than or equal to 0.20.

The selected terms are then categorized by field of pertinence 720. Forexample, the term Pokemon can be categorized as an animated series, toy,or game. The term is then sent to experts 730 in each field ofknowledge. Each expert analyzes the term in context, determines how theterm should be categorized by accepting, rejecting, or modifying thecategorization choices made by the system, and enters annotation contentfor the term. In the example, if the term “Pokemon video on DVD” is sentto an expert, then this term is categorized 740 in the animated seriessection and appropriate annotations added. If the term refers to Pokemontrading cards, then that term is categorized and annotated in the gamesection. If a term is familiar and/or known it bypasses the experts andgoes straight to the Term Database 750 and is associated with existingannotational content as well as being made available for additionalexpert annotation.

Terms from the database are tagged in source documents 760 using theRichLink Processor or other automated methods such as those disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,822,720, System and method for linking streams ofmultimedia data for reference material for display, Oct. 13, 1998,Bookman et al. The tag can serve functions such as linking to a RichLinkContent Window containing additional information or marking the term foran application performing further processing of the page. The finalresult 770 is a tagged and annotated enhanced document 175.

The RichLink Content Window 170, which displays information related tothe term, is available by clicking on a tagged term. The informationcontained in a RichLink Content Window comes from a multitude of sourcesincluding annotations added by experts 740, related products orservices, sponsorship information, information from content syndicators,translations and reference works.

Term List Editor 620

This module aids an expert to review and edit the list created by theterm finder module. Examples of editing features are view list, viewterm in context, expand terms, truncate terms, add terms, delete terms,sort list, and save list. FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate the term finder listeditor screen. A user can click on a Context tab 840 to view the term inthe context of the original page inside a Context window 880, where theoccurrence of the term is highlighted as shown in FIG. 8B. The user candrag the highlighted area 860 to change what portion of the term isselected as shown in 8C. Tabs are located to the left 814, 816 and right824, 826 of the term or phrase 830. A user clicks on the tabs to extend814, 826 or reduce 816, 824 portions of the phrase that surround theterm. For example, in FIG. 8D, the user has clicked on the left reducetab 814, so the selection reduces one word. These extend and reduce tabswork whether the Context window is open or not. Once the desired term isselected, the Commit tab 870 can be selected to make the changes in theTerm database. An Annotations tab 850 is also present. The Annotationstab 850 displays known annotations for the word when selected.

This module interfaces with the Terms Database to create new terms ifthe term did not previously exist, with the Term Inventory Manager tocreate sponsorship opportunity definitions for words that have notalready been sponsored, and with the Content Builder to request contentfor a term.

This module also provides list management support for modules that uselists of terminology, such as the Term Rights Purchase module and theContent Manager module. Lists of terminology created in this module canbe loaded within other modules to filter to a desired list of terms.User tools include, create list, load list, save list, save list as, anddelete list of terms. A saved list may be assigned to a specific moduleor made available to other users. A comparator function can be used toanalyze two or more lists to merge the lists, delete duplicates, or findduplicates.

Term List Site Matcher 630

This module will accept a list of terms and a top-level folder in acorpus of documents such as a website as inputs. It will recursivelycrawl through the top-level folder and every sub-folder searching forall files that match a specified file type or types. An index isgenerated showing occurrences of terms in the list on pages in the site.Statistics such as occurrences, frequency and whether the term isalready linked or sponsored are noted.

Richlink Processor System 130

The modules in this core component group 130 enable the process wherein-context information is automatically linked to documents.

RichLink Processor 910

This module takes normal source pages and automatically enhances themthrough links to content from a variety of sources, such asauthoritative reference works and dictionaries, dictionaries ofsyndicated content, customer-created dictionaries, and dictionaries ofsponsored terminology allowing third parties to attach advertisingcontent to occurrences of terms on sites or through tags which identifyand provide information about the terms they surround. The result is anenhanced page 175 that contains links to the additional content.Processing may occur in real-time between page request and page displayin a web server environment or it may occur offline as a pre-processingstep to publishing documents. The process can be performed on commonfile types such as XML, HTML, RTF, Word documents, and Adobe Acrobat PDFfiles.

The RichLink Processor interacts with the Template Object 930 toidentify the rules that should be used in processing and the LexiconObject 920 to identify what terms should be tagged in the source text.Tags in the page identify whether a page should be processed by theRichLink Processor or not, denote sections of a page to be processed,and indicate the template that should be used in processing thatpage/section.

Tags may be inserted to identify page-level metadata criteria thatshould be used to limit the result set when tagging the page. Forexample, a tag may be inserted into the page identifying the page asbelonging to the category “Video Games”. This tag can then be used tolimit matches to terms or annotations that have also been identified asbelonging to the category “Video Games”. Page-level metadata tags may beinserted ahead of time or when the page is dynamically constructed.

When a file is sent to the RichLink Processor, several operations can beoptionally run on the text. The text may be parsed, the documentcategorized, and page-level meta data tags added to the page. Thedocument content may be summarized. Matches between terms on the pageand terms occurring in the Lexicon Object for dictionaries specified bythe template used with this page are identified. A tag is created aroundmatched terms if meta data or other criteria are met. Typically this tagis a hyperlink that leads to additional annotational content, howeveradditional tag structures can be used. Finally, the document may beinserted into the Term Database as annotational content for identifiedcategory keywords.

A user interface is provided which allows administrative access toprocess and queue controls, view, search and sort log data, and processstatistics.

Lexicon Object 920

The Lexicon Object provides a local representation of the content of theTerm Database for use by the RichLink Processor 910 so a directconnection to the Term Database is not required and the Term Databasemay be on a remote server from the RichLink Processor. The LexiconObject contains data required to match terms and create tags such as arepresentation of the terms in the database optimized for fast matchingby the RichLink Processor, the TermID from the Term Database, theDictionaryID from the Term Database, and other Term Database content forwhich fast access is required, such as annotation content.

The Lexicon Object may be stored once on a single server and accessed byall active RichLink Processor instances running on that server. Or itmay be stored once on a central server and accessed by active RichLinkProcessor instances on multiple servers. It can contain lexicons formultiple dictionaries in a single object instance.

Template Object 930

The Template Object provides a local representation of the Template thatcontains the rules for processing and linking a file so a directconnection to the Template Database is not required and the TemplateDatabase may be on a remote server from the RichLink Processor. TheTemplate Object contains the rules required by the RichLink Processorsuch as dictionaries used for linking or as filters (stop word lists),meta data criteria that must be met when making a match, the format ofthe tag to be inserted before and after a matched term including macrosto be expanded by the RichLink Processor with data specific to thematched term, run-time processing options such as limiting the number ofmatches found or turning stemming on and off, and any code required tobe placed into the page to enable operation of the RichLink ContentWindow or other applications

The Template Object may be stored once on a single server and accessedby all active RichLink Processor instances running on that server. Or itmay be stored once on a central server and accessed by active RichLinkProcessor instances on multiple servers. It can contain multipletemplates in a single object instance.

Lexicon and Template Manager 940

The Lexicon and Template Manager insures that the Lexicon Object 920 andTemplate Object 930 are synchronized with the Term and TemplateDatabases. When the server is started, the manager is automaticallylaunched. It accesses the Term Database to obtain the latest version ofthe Lexicon Object for that server and accesses the Template Database toobtain the latest version of the Template Object for that server, asshown in FIG. 9B. The Lexicon Object and Template Object are then storedin the server's memory where they can be accessed by any active RichLinkProcessor instances running on that server.

The Lexicon and Template Manager must log into the databases.Preferences are enforced based on that login so the server only obtainslexicons and templates for which they have privileges.

The Lexicon and Template Manager may also be triggered via remoterequest, such as an HTTP request, so manual refreshes of the LexiconObject and Template Object can occur while the server is running. TheLexicon and Template Manager also includes a timer function to triggerscheduled refreshes of the Lexicon Object and Template Object.

RichLink Contextual Content Server 135

FIG. 11 illustrates the modules in this core component group 135 thatenable end users such as customers, partners, or hosted service teammembers to create, manage, and modify templates, dictionaries, andcontent windows.

RichLink Template Manager 1010

This module provides an environment for creating templates that definethe rules by which source files are processed, as well as how templatesare managed for each customer. The template defines parameters such asdictionaries and filters, meta data criteria, look and feel of thecontent window, and source page tag structure.

A user has many options to modify a template including adding, changingor deleting entire templates.

Layout settings include background colors and images for the regions ofthe content window, custom content to be added before or after systemgenerated information, logo or advertising image files and the locationthey link to, icons for help, print, or feedback options, and thelocation they link to.

Layer settings include adding, deleting or modifying layers, setting theorder of appearance for layers, styles for text in the layer, andspecifying the elements which appear in either the content or navigationarea for a layer. Elements that can be used include system generatedinformation like Term, Layer Name, Annotation Title, RichLink DictionaryContent, and Citation. Other elements include user decorative elementslike blocks of custom-entered text, images (with or without links), linebreaks, and horizontal rules.

RichLink Dictionary Content settings include the dictionaries to be usedfor linking in that layer. Settings for each dictionary may be furthercustomized such as whether the dictionary should be used as a filter ornot, whether page-level metadata criteria will be used with thisdictionary by the RichLink Processor 910, any standard metadata criteriato be used in matching, the Citation string to be used for thisdictionary, or a custom query to be used to fetch content for thisdictionary. Unless a custom query is specified, a generic query isgenerated based on RichLink Dictionary Content settings.

RichLink Dictionary Content settings may also include rules-basedcontent generation. An example of a rule would be to use a mix ofcontent types like no more than 60% text, 20% images, 10% audio, and 10%video. Another example of a rule would be to rotate content whichmatches a given criteria so a different piece of content shows up onsubsequent viewings. Another example of a rule would be to only showcontent during a specified date range or only for a specified number ofimpressions, as in the case of a marketing campaign.

An option is given to a user so that he may preview an annotation orother linked content.

RichLink Content Window Editor 1120

This module enables the manual creation of term-specific contentwindows, which will be added to a processed file in addition to contentwindows generated by page-level rules specified in the template. Thisway, a product name such as “Microsoft Word” could have a content windowwith a different set of links than “Pokemon” inserted during the sameprocessing run.

The user interface controls for the Content Window Editor would bemostly the same as the Template Manager. Inside of the Content WindowEditor a user may also make requests to see content available for theterm in dictionaries they have privileges for, search other dictionariesfor available content and purchase content, and to send a term to theContent Manager module for expert annotation.

RichLink Content Editor 1130

This module 1130 is a workflow and editing application that enablesediting of content within the Term Database, administration ofdictionaries, and management of a virtual team of content submitters 150to build dictionary content. The service host would use this module togather a group of experts together and expedite content submission whenbuilding dictionaries. A list of terms is created using the Term ListEditor 620 that define the content to be created. Individual terms fromthe list can be assigned manually or automatically to an expert based onthe expert's area of knowledge. The expert submits content for the termsassigned to them.

For example, content sponsors can use this module to assign lists ofterms they are sponsoring to the advertising agencies or internalcreative services teams responsible for submitting sponsored content forthose terms. A marketing team building a dictionary of productinformation can assign product names to the managers associated withthose products or product lines. Research services building a dictionaryof company information can assign company names to the analystsresponsible for tracking that company or that market space.

The group or individual assigned terms in this way will have an editinginterface that enables them to submit content for their list of terms.The types of content that may be submitted include text, links, images,movies, sound files, response forms, or mixtures of some or all ofthese. Meta data may be specified for the term and content to categorizeit. Searches may be performed to find terms and content or to locateadditional resources for a term. For example, an expert could searchdictionaries for which they do not have privileges for suitable contentand then purchase content to be used with their term.

Workflow rules drive content through submission, review, revision, andacceptance cycles, by notifying, assisting, and providing an interfacefor responsible parties to take action on submissions. For example, anexpert can view a list of terms for which they need to submit newcontent, view a list of terms and content which was returned forrevision along with comments on the desired revisions, and submit new orrevised content. A content sponsor can view a list of terms and contentthat has recently been submitted, review it, and then either accept it,reject it, or return it for revisions with comments.

This module also enables editing access to the Term Database anddictionaries for administrators, content team members, partners, andcustomers. Individual terms and content can be added, modified, ordeleted. Dictionary administration actions may be performed such asadding, changing, or deleting dictionaries, specifying dictionarysettings, managing the meta data group and value lists used by RichLinkProcessor as match criteria, maintenance procedures to clean up tablesand indexes, mapping fields from an external database to the TermDatabase in order to merge data from one to the other or to providepointers to data from one to the other, and scheduling regular merges ofdata for synchronization.

This module allows users to preview content by displaying text directlywithin the editor, clicking links to view the page a link leads to,providing thumbnails of images and movies as well as links to the fullimage or movie, linking to sound files, and displaying file sizes.

RichLink Content Delivery Servlet 1050

This module retrieves and displays content by constructing and servingthe RichLink Content Window 170. A request is made to the RichLinkContextual Content Server which contains information such as the ID ofthe term clicked on, the ID of the template used in processing the page,page-level metadata settings, and the customer ID. This module interactswith the Term Database and the Template Manager to select and displaythe appropriate content, navigation elements, and display elements inthe RichLink Content Window.

The RichLink Content Window may be returned in multiple formats such asHTML pages, an XML document which can be transformed as desired beforesending it to the browser or to an application, an embedded pop-upwindow, or using technologies such as Flash to build a displayenvironment.

Click Info Capture 1060

This module tracks a user's click information by tracking each sessionwithin the RichLink Content Delivery Servlet. An anonymous session ID isassigned and information such as the page a click originated from, termsclicked on, layers clicked on, content viewed, start and end times for asession, template IDs, customer IDs, response times, and click throughsare noted.

This module is integrated with the eMarketing module 120 and the TermDatabase 240 to track, report on, and manage sponsorship opportunitieswhich are based on or expire after a certain number of end-userimpressions. It is also integrated with the Click Information Database230 to store click data and the Activity Reporting module 440 to reporton end-user activity.

Data Synchronizers 1070

This module provides synchronization between customer databasescontaining terms and content and the Term Database. When customersalready maintain relevant databases, this module will map fields fromthe customers database to fields in the Term Database and migrate databetween the two systems. Synchronization of data can be scheduled sotransfers between the two databases occur automatically when a change ismade in the customer's database or at a scheduled time each day, week,or month.

Tools are provided that assist in creating maps of the fields betweendatabases and synchronization for most commercially-used databaseformats, such as Oracle, MS SQL, Informix, Sybase, and IBM DB2.

RichLink Content Window 170

The modules in this core component group enable interaction withannotation content in on-line documents. It includes viewing informationwithin a content window after clicking on a word or phrase, viewing,searching and sorting data in the contnent window, setting userpreferences, and alternate viewing environments, such as a floatingtoolbar.

RichLink Content Window 1110

When a user clicks on a word or phrase, content is displayed in aRichLink Content Window that is typically placed in a pop-up window butwhich can also be embedded into a page. The RichLink Content Window maybe formatted for single or multi pane display of content. Menu optionslisting available content are presented in a Navigation Pane whilecontent associated with the term and menu item chosen appears in aContent Pane.

Content comes from the dictionaries stored in the Term Database. Thecontent comes from types such as text, images, movies, sounds, forms(including eCommerce transactions, surveys, or polls), or a mixture ofthe above. Content may be saved on the client side so that it may viewedoff-line, searched, printed, or sent to someone.

Links are present within both panes of the Knowledge Burst, and a usermay navigate the links as with a mini-browser. Some links may beproprietary, requiring a password, payment of fees or both. Ads, logos,text links or other branding and informational elements may appear inthe pop-up menus or in the decorative frames surrounding the content andnavigation panes and may be served from the RichLink Content DeliveryServlet, the customer's own site, or third-parties such as ad servingcompanies.

A content window initially appears at the location of the term clickedon, but a user may move the content window to any area of the display.

Multiple touch points exist where a user can view a content window, suchas a PDA, cell phone or computer.

Floating Toolbar 1120

This is an alternative content window menu that offers advancedfeatures, such as, search, sort, credits, about and help on the entiregroup of RichLink content available on a page. The floating toolbar issimilar to the RichLink Content Window in that the same capabilities areavailable. Additionally, all variations of the content can be viewed. Auser also has the option to set persistent user options such as linkinghighlights, collapsible or exploded menus, and which layers aredisplayed. A user may use the default search and filtering criteria, ormay set and save his own. The toolbar also generates content lists thatcontain suggestions for further research. For example, “users who likedthis RichLink content also liked the following information.”

Term Database 240

The modules in the Term Database represent the types of dictionaries ofinformation that may be managed by the system.

Licensed Dictionaries 1210

Licensed dictionaries include licensed and/or approved third partyinformation, such as translation dictionaries, reference works, anddictionaries of unbiased and high quality information. The content inthese dictionaries is licensed to sites to enhance content for globalaudiences and/or to enhance a user's depth of knowledge.

Examples of translation dictionaries are Kenkyusha Readers or otherforeign language dictionaries. Examples of reference works are theAmerican Heritage or Physician's Desk Reference. Examples of unbiased,high quality information sources are Facts and Comparisons whichprovides drug information, Dun & Bradstreet which provides financialinformation, and Intelligent Medical Objects which provides links tomedical journals, publications, and sites.

Custom Dictionaries 1220

Custom dictionaries include any kind of dictionary that is created by acustomer for use on authorized sites. This commonly occurs on internalsites where the terms are proprietary information, and are not madeavailable to the general public. Typical terms in a custom dictionaryinclude company-specific terminology with definitions and translationsor product names with product information and news.

Sponsored Dictionaries 1230

Sponsored Dictionaries contain content provided by third parties for usewherever a term that they have purchased appears during a certain periodof time or for a number of impressions. Most often this involvescompanies purchasing rights to provide sponsored content from a site.Sponsored content can take almost any form, such as text, images, mixedmedia, banner ads, surveys, links, and email requests.

Although the invention is described herein with reference to thepreferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat other applications may be substituted for those set forth hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the Claims includedbelow.

1. A computer implemented method for processing database content, themethod comprising the steps of: syndicating one or more data objectsassociated with a term database to one or more remote computers, whereinthe one or more data objects contain data associated with one or moreterms; parsing one or more documents to identify at least one term basedon at least one rule; identifying content for the at least one term; andassociating the at least one term with the identified content; whereinthe one or more data objects associated with the term database provide arepresentation of at least a portion of the term database at the one ormore remote computers and are used to link the identified content withthe at least one term.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content isprovided by a source.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sourcecomprises at least one expert who provides the content for the at leastone term through an interface.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of: providing a sponsorship opportunity to at leastone entity to sponsor the at least one term, wherein a content window isassociated with the at least one term.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe content comprises one or more of definitions, related products,related services, sponsorship information, translation, and referenceworks.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more remotecomputers access data associated with the term database for linking tothe supplemental content, without a connection to the term database. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more data objects comprise atemplate object for identifying at least one rule for processing asource page.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more dataobjects comprise a lexicon object for identifying at least one term fortagging in a source page.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one ormore data objects are synchronized with at least the term database. 10.A computer program of instructions configured to be readable by at leastone programmed computer processor to execute a computer process forperforming the method as recited in claim
 1. 11. A computer implementedsystem for processing database content, the system comprising: a termmodule for parsing one or more documents to identify at least one termbased on at least one rule; a processing module for identifying contentfor the at least one term; and a term database for storing theidentified content in association with the at least one term; whereinone or more data objects associated with the term database aresyndicated to one or more remote computers for providing arepresentation of at least a portion of the term database at the one ormore remote computers and for linking the identified content with the atleast one term, wherein the one or more data objects contain dataassociated with one or more terms.
 12. The system of claim 11, whereinthe content is provided by a source.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinthe source comprises at least one expert who provides the content forthe at least one term through an interface.
 14. The system of claim 11,wherein a sponsorship opportunity is provided to at least one entity tosponsor the at least one term, wherein a content window is associatedwith the at least one term.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein thecontent comprises one or more of definitions, related products, relatedservices, sponsorship information, translation, and reference works. 16.The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more remote computers accessdata associated with the term database for linking to the supplementalcontent, without a connection to the term database.
 17. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the one or more data objects comprise a templateobject for identifying at least one rule for processing a source page.18. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more data objectscomprise a lexicon object for identifying at least one term for taggingin a source page.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or moredata objects are synchronized with at least the term database.
 20. Acomputer implemented system for processing database content, the systemcomprising: means for parsing one or more documents to identify at leastone term based on at least one rule; means for identifying content forthe at least one term; and means for associating the at least one termwith the identified content; wherein one or more data objects associatedwith the term database are syndicated to one or more remote computersfor providing a representation of at least a portion of the termdatabase at the one or more remote computers and for linking theidentified content with the at least one term.
 21. A computerimplemented method for processing database content, the methodcomprising the steps of: syndicating one or more data objects associatedwith a database to one or more remote computers; parsing one or moresource documents to identify at least one term based on one or morepredetermined rules; identifying content for the at least one term;linking the content with the at least one term; and automaticallyassociating the at least one term in the one or more source documentswith at least one link; wherein the at least one link denotes anassociation between the at least one term and the linked content;wherein the one or more data objects associated with the databaseprovide a representation of at least a portion of the database at theone or more remote computers; and wherein the linked content isdisplayed on a user interface based upon a user interaction with atleast a portion of the one or more source documents.
 22. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the supplemental content is transmitted from a remotecomputer.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the supplemental contentis displayed in a content window.
 24. The method of claim 23, whereinthe content window is embedded in the source document.
 25. The method ofclaim 23, wherein the content window is separate from the sourcedocument.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein the user interactioncomprises a user selecting the at least one term with a mouse cursor.27. The method of claim 21, wherein the user interaction comprises auser clicking the at least one term with a mouse cursor.
 28. The methodof claim 21, wherein the at least one term is visibly enhanced to notifythe user of available supplemental content.
 29. The method of claim 21,wherein the supplemental content comprises at least one advertisement.30. The method of claim 21, wherein one or more of the predeterminedrules are based on frequency of a term within a source document.
 31. Themethod of claim 21, wherein one or more of the predetermined rules arebased on manner of linguistic usage of a term.
 32. The method of claim21, wherein one or more of the predetermined rules are based on presenceor lack thereof of an entry in a database.
 33. The method of claim 21,wherein one or more of the predetermined rules are based on availabilityof supplemental content for a term.
 34. The method of claim 21, whereinone or more of the predetermined rules are based on quality or amount ofavailable supplemental content for a term.
 35. The method of claim 21,wherein one or more of the predetermined rules are based on one or morefinancial incentives.
 36. A computer implemented system for processingdatabase content, the system comprising: a term module for parsing oneor more source documents to identify at least one term based on one ormore predetermined rules; and a processing module for identifyingcontent for the at least one term, linking the content with the at leastone term, and automatically associating the at least one term in the oneor more source documents with at least one link; wherein the at leastone link denotes an association between the at least one term and thelinked content; wherein one or more data objects associated with adatabase are syndicated to one or more remote computers for providing arepresentation of at least a portion of the database at the one or moreremote computers; and wherein the linked content is displayed on a userinterface based upon a user interaction with at least a portion of theone or more source documents.
 37. The method of claim 1, wherein theidentified content is displayed on a user interface in response to aselection of the at least one term by a user.
 38. The method of claim 1,wherein the identified content is stored in the term database.
 39. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the source comprises one or more of adictionary, customer created data, advertising content and referencework.
 40. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises one ormore of text, image, sound, video and mixed media.
 41. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the identified content is displayed on a userinterface in response to a selection of the at least one term by a user.42. The system of claim 11, wherein the identified content is stored inthe term database.
 43. The system of claim 12, wherein the sourcecomprises one or more of a dictionary, customer created data,advertising content and reference work.
 44. The system of claim 11,wherein the content comprises one or more of text, image, sound, videoand mixed media.
 45. The system of claim 20, wherein the identifiedcontent is displayed on a user interface in response to a selection ofthe at least one term by a user.
 46. The system of claim 20, wherein theidentified content is stored in the term database.